


Beginning

by Swoopingisbadx



Category: South Park
Genre: Falling In Love, M/M, Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4411001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swoopingisbadx/pseuds/Swoopingisbadx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has graduated, and Eric Cartman is putting on his last party before everyone leaves for college. Well, everyone except for Kenny and Craig.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> HI HELLO. 
> 
> It's been ages since I posted anything on here- and actually it's been ages since I've even written anything at all. I'm fairly new to the South Park fandom, but my girlfriend has gotten me hooked pretty fast, and I've fallen in love with Craig and Kenny, so I decided to try writing a fic of them~ 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys, and I'll be doing my best to be writing more in this fandom as well as others. (I've gotten so many nice reviews over my aokaga fic, you're all too kind. ;~;) 
> 
> I apologize if there are any typos that I have missed! 
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr at: http://bakagamicchii.tumblr.com/ (I need more South Park blogs to follow over there!)

End of the year parties had been Cartman’s “thing” since they were all still in elementary school; and for some reason, Craig always seemed to be dragged to them by his friends, despite his protests every time. Because of course Tweek and Token didn’t give a shit that Craig never stopped hating every fiber in Eric Cartman’s being. 

 But regardless of the two of them constantly butting heads though, and as much as Craig would never admit it, once they had reached high school, these parties had become more of something of his interests, and he found himself not minding tagging along as much. It was the alcohol— it had to be the alcohol. 

 So of course, here he was at what Cartman was dramatically calling “The Finale” the entire last three months of their senior year. Which yes, it was, but come on, why the hell did fat ass have to make it sounds so dramatic all the time? It did make everyone talk though; and Craig wouldn’t be surprised if any juniors tried to sneak into the party. 

 There was no doubt that at least all their graduating class would be there. Especially when at least ninety percent of them were getting the hell out of South Park. Unfortunately though, little to anyone’s knowledge, Craig found himself within the other ten percent staying—at least for the time being. The time being being way much longer than he’d like. 

 His thoughts drifted to leaving this town as he aimlessly moved through the crowded living room. The smell of beer and more than half of the guys in attendance’s nasty cologne hung in the air, and Craig crinkled his nose in disgust. Their class wasn’t _that_ big, but for some reason almost all of them decided to cram into Cartman’s small living room. He felt his temple twitch in frustration as someone shoved his side.

 Craig’s destination instantly set to the less crowded kitchen, and he quickly dodged his classmates to make it there, eager to start getting some alcohol into his system. The kitchen was occupied by far less people as the living room; mainly people just refilling their drinks before heading back into the mass of bodies and thumping music.

 As he filled his drink, his eyes gazed on the open backdoor, and peered out to see a small crowd of people out there. Some were simply taking a smoke break by the door, and others seemed to be a bit further out; an orange glow beginning to rise as they started a fire. Outside suddenly seemed very appealing to Craig. Not only for the escape from the crowd, but also he lost Token the moment they showed up, (instantly distracted by his girlfriend, the asshole), so he hoped that he would be out there somewhere so he could give him “the finger” and maybe a painful kick to the shin because he knew by the end of the night he’d have to listen to Cartman’s drunk, fat ass crying over how he loved and will miss everyone. (Which Craig knew would be the biggest load of shit he’d ever hear, Cartman would end up forgetting all about everyone once he was supplied all his vices in college.) 

 His realized that there was nothing stopping him from leaving, and his mind decided to remind him, “No shit idiot, you want to be here.” He clenched his jaw at the though. Craig didn’t have many friends because of his attitude, but the few he had he’d like to see before they all left.  He scowled as pushed the thoughts from his mind, taking a sip of his rum and coke, and walked out back—most likely looking like a guy that really would prefer not to deal with nature, although it was the complete opposite. 

 The raven haired teen scanned the yard to get a better look at the company he’d keep out here. A group of girls that he didn’t know too well were the closest to the door, all smoking their cigarettes and staring at their smartphones as they spoke;  none of them bothered looking up at him as he passed. Further out in the distance were the small group by the fire. He made out Kyle carrying some wood towards it, stumbling slightly in the process. He rolled his eyes. Great, where Kyle was, so was Stan; and even though as the years passed he was able to tolerate them more, they still seemed to get into petty arguments more than they should. 

 He started to walk towards them, hoping that Kenny was at least with them. Craig got along with Kenny just fine, and he or Token were usually a defuser if both groups (minus Cartman) were hanging out together and Craig decided to be a smart ass with Kyle or Stan. Because of course, if Craig started with one, the other would instantly jump in to defend. 

 “Woah, what a surprise! Fire duty was given to the drunk idiots.” Craig said sarcastically as he stopped next to a slightly-swaying Stan who was poking the fire with a stick. 

 Stan proceeded to slowly turn towards the newcomer and raise a middle finger, which Craig generously returned as he took a sip of his drink. His attention was turned to a slightly-high pitch giggle, and ah, there was Kenny, sitting crosslegged on the ground next to none other than Token and his girlfriend. Before he could say anything to Token, Kyle spoke. He made a mental note to kick Token later.

 “Kenny, you must be drunk already if you think what this asshole says is funny.”  The red head said, pointing a thumb at Craig. 

 “What can I say? Craig’s a funny guy—and he’s right, the drunk idiots are on fire duty, just look at you two. I’m surprised neither of you have killed me yet.” Kenny responded. He grinned at Craig as he brought his cup to his lips, and Craig couldn’t help but smirk back at him; yes, thankfully Kenny was here. 

 For years, Kenny McCormick was quieter than the others in his group of friends, but boy did that change once he hit around fifteen. Craig wondered if it was the fact that since he stopped covering his face with his hoodies that people could now hear his sarcasm and wit easier. Regardless the reason, everyone noticed, and Kenny became a lot more popular even though he was always reminded by Cartman that he was the “poorest kid in the school”.  

 Kyle snorted in response to the blond as he placed more wood carefully on top of the fire. “Guess your entertainment has arrived then, aye Kenny? Weren’t you just complaining that you were bored?” 

 Kenny rose to his feet, swaying slightly as he tried to keep his balance. “Yesssss!!” he exclaimed as he stumbled over towards Craig, almost falling directly into the fire in the process; Kyle pulling him by the back of his hoodie to stand him upright. 

 “Craig, entertain me!” Kenny demanded loudly. Despite his clumsy movements, when he got closer to Craig, he didn’t appear to be that drunk. Yet. 

 Craig took a step back as Kenny got even closer. “Dude get the fuck away from me.” he said in a monotone voice. 

 “Awwww don’t be like that, This might be the last time we get to hang out like this!” Kenny whined. “You’re going to be leaving me for college too!” 

 His stomach turned at the other’s statement, remembering that only Token knew that he was staying. His eyes met his best friends, and Token looked at him with a worried frown. It was embarrassing enough to tell Token that he did terrible on his SATs, and that the colleges he wanted to go to all turned him down. Not only because of his low scores, but also his permanent record wasn’t that greatest, and Craig began to really hate himself for being such a little shit through school. 

 The anger he felt for himself boiled inside of him as he looked back to Kenny’s face as if he were expecting Craig to crack a joke or something. “We’re not even close Kenny, get over it.” he unintentionally snapped, instantly regretting it when he saw how Kenny’s shoulders wilted in response. 

 “Please, not close my ass. As much as you act like you hate being around us- well mostly me and Kyle, you are always around.” Stan said in a slight accusing tone. 

 Stan was right and Craig knew it, and he hated that he was right. And he didn’t mean what he said to Kenny—he really liked Kenny after all. His annoyance was building. “Shut the fuck up, Stan.” he grumbled, turning back to his cup. 

 Token seemed to notice Craig’s mood, and he stood, brushing off his pants and then extending his arms out as he spoke. “Hey come on now guys, get along tonight. We’re all friends here, celebrating finally graduating that shitty school!”  

 Craig thought he might have taken it a bit too far by saying they were _all_ friends, but he appreciated his friend defusing the situation regardless. He heard a snort from Stan, assuming he was thinking the same, and then glanced over to Kenny who was now sitting on the ground again to his right, facing the fire.  

 He seemed a bit crestfallen, chin in his hands as he stared directly at the flames, and Craig felt guilt punch him in the gut. It was probably already tough on Kenny, being one of the only few that couldn’t afford to leave South Park; and he probably was one of the ones who deserved to get out of here the most. Then Craig had to go be an asshole, ruining the poor guy’s mood even after he said everyone was leaving him.

 While Craig was too busy feeling sorry for himself because of his wounded pride over having to stay, and not caring about his friends all leaving, Kenny was obviously the direct opposite. Kenny didn’t care that he couldn’t brag about plans of joining a frat like Cartman. (How Cartman was affording to go to a private school baffled Craig, and realized that he was probably bullshitting his way in.) He also didn’t care about not being able to boast about high SAT scores that landed really good scholarships like Kyle and Stan.  

 He wanted to apologize to Kenny for being a dick, but the silence that stretched for a few minutes was suddenly broken by the others beginning to talk again, and Craig stayed quiet, allowing himself to focus more on his drink and trying to become a little more relaxed as the alcohol flooded his system. 

 He went back inside twice for a refill, and found himself still coming out to the group by the fire regardless of how annoyed he still was with Stan. There was no chance in hell he was going to go try to sit inside where Cartman was floating around; plus he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling more relaxed with Kenny next to him—although the blond hadn’t said much in the past hour or so. 

 After his second trip into the kitchen, Craig found himself sitting on the ground next to Kenny, his body feeling a bit warmer, and the buzz slightly starting. Token and his girlfriend decided to disappear into Cartman’s shed at this point, and Stan and Kyle seemed too wrapped up in their own conversation (and drunk) to even pay attention to anyone else. It was then that he decided to finally speak up to Kenny, and he turned towards the other just in time to see him walking towards him, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise; how did he notice that he had disappeared? 

 “Shit, how long have you been gone?” he asked curiously. 

 Kenny grinned and plopped down on the ground next to him, an entire bottle of alcohol in his hand, minus the cup. “Only about five minutes.” he responded, his mood seeming a bit lighter again. “I’m offended you didn’t notice my absence.” 

 Craig tried to hide his smirk when he heard the teasing tone from the other, and rolled his eyes. “You know there are cups inside, right?” he said, pointing at the bottle. 

 “No shit.” Kenny retorted, removing the cap and taking a generous swig. “This is easier- won’t have to move again.” 

 He offered the bottle to Craig, and with a nod of thanks, he accepted taking a quick look at what he was about to consume, (scotch, gross, but hey it got the job done), and he took a sip before handing it back. He made a disgusted face and shook his head a few times. 

 “Ugh, did you raid Cartman’s mom’s liquor?” he groaned.

 “I’m sorry, princess, would you prefer if I go make you a strawberry daiquiri? Complete with fancy umbrella?” Kenny teased in response, giving him a playful nudge in his shoulder. When did he start sitting so close? 

 “Fuck you.” he grumbled in response. 

 Kenny grinned in return, but the same sad look came across his face again as he turned back towards the flames. He frowned, staring at the blond curiously. He couldn’t help but feel concerned; Kenny and him always got along well. There were many times throughout high school that they had partnered up for projects, and it’d lead to the two of them hanging out at Craig’s house while they were suppose to be doing said projects. So he felt that it was safe to say that he considered Kenny a friend, even though he never really expressed it. The guilt rose again in his chest at the way the other was acting. 

 Craig cleared his throat and finished the rest of the drink in his cup before speaking.

 “Dude, what’s your damage tonight? If it’s what I said earlier you-you know I didn’t mean it, right?” he asked, glad that he was still sober enough to form sentences, but at the same time wishing he wasn’t since he basically just apologized. 

 Kenny looked at him, eyes wide in surprise obviously over Craig’s words. “Me?” he asked dumbly, pointing to himself. 

 “Yeah, you.” he sighed, “Are you that drunk already?”

 Kenny chuckled and shook his head. “Unfortunately not drunk yet, to be honest. That’s why I snagged this bottle.” 

 “What’s the rush?” Craig asked as he watched Kenny take a swig once again.

 Kenny gave him a sad smile and shrugged, not answering. Craig just stared at him, unwilling to let it slide. This seemed to register with the other, and he sighed, placing the alcohol on the grass and laying down on his back, hands behind his head. 

 “I guess I just want to forget I’ll be the only one left in this shit hole town, still living my shit hole life after this summer. My sister’s older now, and got out of there before me, which I’m glad her friend’s parents took her in, but still, I’m alone here now.” he finally said, turning towards Craig as he finished. “It really sucks, you know? My entire life has been pretty much a joke up to this point.”

 Craig frowned, not knowing what the best thing to say would be, but he still felt that he needed to say something. 

 “We live in South Park, Colorado. Dude, all our lives have been jokes so far.” he said, laying down as well, staring up at the night sky.

 Kenny laughed, and it sounded a bit forced, which made him feel like he failed somehow. Craig knew Kenny had it worse off than anyone else in their class, so he knew he probably was thinking his life was the biggest joke of them all, and it sucked that he really felt that way. 

 After a few minutes of silence, Kenny spoke again. 

 “I need to get the fuck out of here.” he sighed sadly.

 Craig sat up again. looking around them to see that Kyle and Stan were now gone, and then turned his attention back to the other. 

 “We’ll get out of here eventually.” he said, unable to look at him directly. He hoped that the subtle hint of “we” would be caught by him—he claimed to not be that drunk yet. 

 “We? You mean me.” 

 “I mean we.” 

 “We?” Kenny went silent for a moment. 

 “Dude…Craig… _you are_ getting out of here…” he said in a questioning tone as he sat up, and Craig felt his eyes on him. 

 His face began to heat up in embarrassment. He felt that shame again, and it annoyed him that he could get worked up over this so easily; and it felt weird actually trusting someone other than Token with this information. 

 “Craig?” Kenny questioned when he didn’t answer. 

 “I’m fucking staying in this shit hole too, okay?” he unintentionally snapped. 

 “What?!” Kenny exclaimed, obviously not believing him at all. 

 “You fuckin’ heard me.” 

 “Yeah, but the odds of you fucking with me right now are pretty high.” 

 “Why the fuck would I joke about something like this?” Craig snapped, angrily. 

 “Because you’re Craig the asshole.” Kenny simply responded. 

 He had a point, but he was still offended that he thought he was _that big_ of an asshole. 

 “Yeah but how many times have I intentionally been an asshole to you personally?” 

 Kenny didn't respond, just stared at him intently for a solid two minutes (Craig counted), as if he were waiting for Craig to start laughing. 

 He sighed finally breaking eye contact to stare back at the fire. More wood probably should have been added to it, but Craig didn’t really give a shit. 

 “Why are you staying?” Kenny finally asked in a soft voice. 

 Craig proceeded to reluctantly explain everything to him, the other teen stating silent, listening intently the entire time. When he finished, Craig felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders; more so than when he told Token. 

 “That’s bullshit.” Kenny said, frustrated. “You’re smart- you should have been accepted- shit, your parents should be helping you!!” 

 He shrugged, reaching over for the bottle on the other side of his companion. His parents, yeah right, he thought. They were too ashamed of him to help. 

 “Yeah well life decided to take a gigantic shit on me.” he mumbled. 

 Suddenly, Kenny’s hand wrapped gently around his wrist the moment he touched the bottle. Craig stilled, eyes slowly turning towards the other to question him, only to see the serious look on his face, instantly silencing him. 

 “Hey,” the blonde said softly, almost consoling. “You’re not alone.” He gave his wrist a gentle squeeze, and Craig’s eyes blew wide at the gesture, still unable to move. 

 “Uh-“ he said stupidly; his heard feeling like it was in his throat. “I-I told you all this shit to basically say the same thing to you, dumb ass.” He coughed nervously and Kenny smile fondly at him as he slowly (and almost shyly what the hell?) pulled his hand away. His mouth felt dry, and he quickly took a few sips of scotch. 

 “Who else knows?” Kenny asked, eyes still locked onto Craig’s as he inched a bit closer. 

 Craig watched him do so, curious and slightly frustrated that Kenny’s gestures were making him so frazzled and feeling weird. 

 “Just Token.” he grunted out in response as he screwed the cap back on the bottle. 

 One would think Craig had just told the other teen that he won the lottery, his face brightened so quickly. 

 “What?” Craig asked. 

 “I-I’m just honored that you trust me enough to share this.” Kenny replied, looking down at the ground, making his hood fall over his face a bit more. It reminded Craig of how Kenny would cover practically his entire face with his orange hoodies when they were younger. 

 He was thankful that he could see Kenny’s face perfectly most of the time now. 

_ Woah. _

 Woah woah woah- where did that thought come from? He was glad he could see Kenny’s face? 

  _Well, he does have a nice face_. 

 What. 

 Craig coughed loudly as if he were trying to spit the thoughts out of him and he stared at anything but Kenny. 

 “Yeah well, don’t mention it to anyone, alright?” he finally responded. 

Kenny didn’t seem to notice Craig freaking out over his inner thoughts, and nodded enthusiastically. 

 “Hey, of course. I know how much of a real piece of shit Cartman would be if he found out somehow. I won’t say a word.” 

 Craig looked over at the other and of course he was still giving him that overly fond look. “Thanks.” he mumbled.

 Kenny was still pretty close to him, and now that he seemed to have some sort of epiphany over _liking his face_ ,  all he could think about was his stupid face. 

 “Hey, remember when we all use to play that imaginary game with the “Stick of Truth”?” Kenny suddenly asked. 

 “Yeah and your ass betrayed Cartman at the last minute.” Craig snorted. 

 “Hey- you betrayed him too!” Kenny said poking him in the arm. 

 “Shit…well, yeah.” 

 “I was just thinking—we have more in common than I realized.” Kenny sighed with a laugh. 

 A “Pfft” came out of Craig’s mouth. “Oh yeah, I’m surprised we didn’t have friendship bracelets and bonded over pissing off fat ass.” he teased. 

 Kenny rolled his eyes and nudged him. “Hey, I didn’t ask you to be my partner so many times in school just to piss Cartman off, you know.” 

 “Yeah? What? You wanted to be my partner so we could be friends?” he asked, pretending to be shocked at the idea, and he noticed Kenny’s happy reaction to the acknowledgement  that they were more than just acquaintances. 

 “Something like that…” The teen responded shyly, picking at the grass again. 

 Woah, why was he suddenly acting like this? Craig was suddenly glad he wasn’t drunk as hell because he wouldn’t have caught this subtle change in Kenny otherwise. 

 Silence fell, and Craig looked back at the dying fire, flames getting dangerously low from the lack of attention. Still, he made no attempt to move, enjoying the closeness of the boy next to him. His throat went dry again—what the hell was with him? Kenny had always only been Kenny. Now he’s suddenly making him feel…weird. Was it the way he consoled him even though Craig was nothing but an asshole to his friends? He actually seemed concerned about him, and like completely forgot that he had it worse than him for a moment. 

 Craig expected people to laugh at him- or compare his misery to their own as if trying to one-up him any way they could, but Kenny had done the opposite; he became selfless. He must have always meant more to him than he had thought. 

 He was broken from his cluster of thoughts when suddenly Kenny leaned against him, placing his head on his shoulder. Craig tensed. 

 “Uh…what are you doing?” he asked slowly. 

 “I’m cold.” Kenny answered simply. 

 “So you try to suck up my body heat?” 

 “Yeah, you can share.” 

 “What if I don’t want to share?”

 “You’d let me freeze to death?” 

 Craig could hear the pout in Kenny’s voice. 

 “You can go inside you know.” 

 “I could, but I want to stay out here yooooou.” Kenny said in an obviously flirtatious voice. 

 Craig felt his face heat up. Was Kenny flirting with him? Really? 

 “Dude you drank too much.” Craig responded, looking at the top of the orange hood on his shoulder. 

 Kenny must have felt him move because suddenly he pulled his hood off and stared up, directly at his face; cheeks slightly pink, but eyes completely clear. The heat on his face most likely had little to do with alcohol. 

 "I’m perfectly sober now.” Kenny whispered, as if it was another secret to keep between the two of them. 

 Shit, their faces were so close he could feel Kenny’s breath gently on his face. Every whit retort Craig could think of was instantly evaporated thanks to the awareness he felt of the situation. 

 He felt a cold hand on top of his, and his fingers twitched underneath it. Maybe Kenny wasn’t lying about feeling cold, but his intentions were definitely somewhere else. Craig couldn’t move away, nor could he bring himself to ask the blond what the hell was happening; because he found himself not wanting it to stop. 

 “This probably sounds very selfish for me to say, but please don’t take it the wrong  way…” Kenny whispered, eyes still locked on his. “I’m really glad you’re going to still be here.” 

 Craig probably would have been offended if anyone else had said that to him, but he understood what Kenny meant. 

 He forced his brain to process a response, but before he could, a pair of soft, warm lips were pressed against his own, the hand on top of his lacing their fingers together. 

 And it was over before Craig realized it, and he sat there stunned—the only sounds coming from the crackling fire and the thudding bass inside the house. 

 Then Kenny was pulling away, and Craig let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and he gripped onto the hand that tried to leave his, making Kenny still. 

 “Sorry- I- it’s just…all this time I’ve-“ Kenny began to stutter, but Craig cut him off. 

 “Can it, McCormick. We have all the time in the world for explanations, and figuring out what this is.” He said, pulling the other close again.  

 This time Craig kissed him, actually responding to it, and allowing his free hand to move up to the back of Kenny’s neck to keep him in place. Kenny relaxed the moment their lips met a small, excited noise coming out of his mouth as he let go of Craig’s hand to wrap his arms around his neck. He kissed him back eagerly, and it sort of felt like Kenny opened a flood gate of emotions, and Craig wondered how long the other had been suppressing them. 

 They finally pulled away, just enough to catch their breaths and allowed their foreheads to touch. Craig opened his eyes to see Kenny looking at him, and his face turned red once again. No one had ever looked at him like that before. 

 Kenny reached up and tugged playfully on one of the strings of his hat, a smile stretching across his face. A small smile danced on Craig’s lips in return. 

 “Yeah, I’m glad I’m staying too.” he whispered before leaning in again. 

 Craig felt lighter as he pressed their lips together for the third time, and he couldn’t help but think that this party was no longer “The Finale”, but more like his and Kenny’s “Beginning.” 

 He’d get out of South Park, and Craig was making damn sure that he’d be taking Kenny with him. 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
